A Spark of Redemption
by Rye Mellark
Summary: 'We're all the same are we not? We're all human beings trying to live, love and be loved, right? Yet, look at us. For all the similarities we share, here we are fighting amongst ourselves; destroying the very ideals and beliefs that we hold onto dearly with our very lives,' Kaito said as warm tears intermingled with the vermillion mud staining his face. (A MK/DC AU fiction)


**Disclaimer: **All characters from Meitantei/Detective Conan and Magic Kaito are the intellectual properties of sir Gosho Aoyama. The only thing I own are the ideas and plot I have floating within the metaphysical space I like to call my mind.**  
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**Author's Notes:** So here I am with another Magic Kaito/Detective Conan work of fiction. To be honest, this piece was written as a competition entry I wrote up two years ago for a university writing contest and so was an original piece. However, after re-reading this again today, I decided why not try and use it as a basis for writing an overtly AU work of fiction involving the characters of my favourite manga/anime.

I must say that the storyline for this narrative is heavily underdeveloped and as such, I cannot guarantee a set period for updates but whenever I get a chance to write, I'll squeeze in another chapter coinciding with the release of another _**OMAT**_ chapter (which is what one of my reviewers/followers/FF friend decided to call my first attempt of writing MK/DC fiction).

I do hope you guys like the beginnings of this work of fiction. As always, comments, reviews and suggestions involving the direction the story could take are welcome and highly appreciated.

Now, without further ado, I present to you the first chapter of _**A Spark of**** Redemp****tion**_.

**PS: **Reader's discretion is advised as this chapter is rather graphic and gory as **war** and **revolution** were the themes that the original piece had to explore.

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Edited: 12 Feb 2014

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A Spark of Redemption

Chapter 1

The crack of a rifle caused an adolescent male to turn around. His eyes widened in fear. No amount of training prepared him for such carnage.

_Nothing_ would've.

Hundreds of bodies lay lifeless before him, some of which he realised were now nothing more than raw hunks of meat haphazardly strewn across the ground. Sickened by the grisly tableau, the boy's reaction was to lower his head and rid the image. In its place was blood soaking the earth beneath his boots, turning it into a sickening shade of scarlet. Even the air he breathed felt like it was somehow tainted with the red liquid. A cough escaped the young man's lips, leaving a metallic aftertaste that pervaded his tongue.

Another round of gunfire from behind him followed what he made out to be audible shattering of bones. Turning around, the youth caught glimpse of a man crumpling over a metre or so away. His eyes were still open. _Was he alive,_ the youth wondered—fearing the inevitable.

He took shaky steps forward, reluctant to confirm his growing suspicion. A crest emblazoned on the man's mud-stained uniform caught his attention. It was the symbol of his father's kingdom: the characteristic facade of a raven in midflight.

The boy was about to question the imperial soldier when he noticed it—a gaping hole through the man's temple. He desperately wanted to scream but nothing came out of him. His lean frame froze upon that moment of realisation—another life extinguished all in the supposed name of peace.

The prince heard a familiar name being called out. He tried to turn around but his body was petrified from shock. _Crud,_ he cursed under his breath.

He knew being frozen in the midst of a battlefield wasn't going to raise his chances of living.

He panicked.

The prince didn't want to die, but his body ignored his mind's plea. His knees felt like they were about to buckle at any moment. Each throb of his muscles brought another round of pain. In a helpless attempt to quell the agony, he clenched his teeth.

It'd been hours since the enemy fired their first round in the direction of the prince's flank. The sun was now high above the sky—searing his exposed and tender flesh. In spite of this, he found no sign of the enemy being vanquished anytime soon. From what the adolescent could tell, General Nakamori's stratagem was barely keeping the rebels from crossing the northern embankments. The prince, among others, were now spread out—easy pickings for enemy soldiers. He wasn't sure when or even _if_ reinforcements were on their way. For the time being, he simply had to survive.

_There's that voice calling out again_, the prince thought. This time, it was louder; the name, clearer.

Seconds passed. It took some time for his disjointed thoughts to coalesce and create some sense but the noble managed to make out whom the name belonged to.

_It's mine_, he murmured. A bead of cold sweat trickled down his furrowed brows.

_Surely, the man is an ally if he knows my name_, the prince thought, trying to reassure his already wracked mental state.

The young noble frantically searched the recesses of his mind, trying to put a face behind that voice. A memory resurfaced. It dawned on him that he knew the voice since childhood. _Colonel Kudo_, he thought with a sigh of relief. Ignored by his father at a young age for reasons unknown, the prince found a father figure in the form of Kudo.

Whatever invisible chains that held the young prince motionless had broken. His body may have been sore but he was glad of regaining his ability to move.

Swinging around, the young noble found the colonel dashing through blades of grass, panting heavily. Held close to the man's heaving chest was a rifle. The prince could see azure eyes darting left and right, anticipating for any signs of danger. With a courier hawk hovering above the colonel's head, the prince could only hope for good news. The youth began to approach his superior when he noticed it. Kudo's sharp features formed a scowl—far from the beacon of hope the prince was expecting.

The prince closed the gap until he was merely an arm's length away from the man who made him feel like he meant something. He saw that the colonel's expression lightened, a weary smile creeping up Kudo's lips. Lifting his head, the prince saw the hawk circling one last time before perching on the man's padded shoulder.

'Prince Kaito! Thank heavens I've found you. Listen son, I don't have time to explain. We have to warn Major General Megure immediately,' Kudo said.

'Warn him? Of wha—?' before the prince could finish his question, a loud explosion came roaring from behind the enemy lines, leaving one of his ears ringing.

A hurtling ball of iron came rapidly into view, Kaito's eyes following its trajectory. The projectile flew silently until it arched down and made contact with one of his kingdom's soldiers. Another set of bones shattered. As it pierced and exited the man's torso, Kaito witnessed with horror, the ball taking parts of the soldier's bowels along with it before hitting the ground and scattering dirt high into the air.

The prince could see the man cough up blood as he looked down at the chunk of his missing abdomen. Kaito watched helplessly until the man's unfocused eyes met his own. The soldier's bloody lips appeared to mouth words. _Help me_, was the only thing Kaito caught before the man's body fell and lay limp on the bed of grass. The young noble abruptly turn his head away from the scene, doing his best to supress nausea.

'Of those cannons! I don't bloody know how the rebels got a hold of some but we wouldn't be able to stand a chance at close combat with that type of artillery at their disposal. Son, you've seen what those can do.'

The prince merely nodded his head in agreement, his nerves frayed to their limits.

'We've got to fall back before more of us winds up dead. Old man Nakamori's orders,' the older man said.

Another nod.

Kaito didn't need any further incentive from the colonel to move. He had enough of the bloodshed. All he wanted was for his people to return home alive. Even though he was the king's kin, the adolescent had no say in military decisions.

His status as prince offered no special privileges. He _never_ wanted to kill anyone nor did he want to witness his own people getting slaughtered. But in the end, Kaito was just another conscript—a boy who hadn't even turned eighteen but nevertheless, forced into a senseless war to maintain his father's dominion over the kingdom. This, he realised was the price that had to be paid to sustain power—a sacrifice of innocent and countless lives.

Taking his firsts step, he turned his back towards Colonel Kudo. Around him, fellow soldiers were still cocking their rifles. They were not giving up over some petty fear. Kaito saw their eyes; their blood and dirt-smeared visages burning with determination. He knew half of the men in his flank were either married or engaged. They had families to go back to.

Another step.

He was determined to get them out of the enemy's firing line alive—to end this mindless bloodshed. His valiant thoughts were interrupted. A flutter of wings and a loud groan from behind signalled him that something went horribly wrong.

_Sir Yuusaku!_

Spinning on his heels, Kaito turned to see a bayonet gleaming in the sunlight, blood dripping from its dainty tip. The weapon was jutting out of the colonel's shoulder, a spot of dark crimson growing alarmingly close to the older man's chest.

The blasted dagger produced a squelching sound as it disappeared into his senior's body.

A loud thud.

Kaito saw the closest person he had to a father now lay splayed on the ground, blood trickling out of his slightly parted mouth. The man's eyes were wide open; his face contorted into a grimace.

'No,' the dark-haired prince growled in animalistic rage.

For a second, murderous thoughts entered the prince's mind. Colonel Kudo was struck down and Kaito wanted revenge. He couldn't let the perpetrator get away with what he's done. That was _until _Kaito saw the person move in front of his fallen colonel.

From what his eyes could tell, the enemy soldier appeared no older than he was. Though the other youth's face bore defiance and disdain, Kaito could sense the tiny ounce of guilt that his eyes beheld. His actions may have been unjustifiable but Kaito could understand where the fair-headed soldier was coming from. He wasn't a murderer. Just like Kaito, he was merely a pawn of the ongoing war.

'What? Aren't you going to shoot me your _princeliness_,' the adolescent taunted.

The prince could see his eyes were flickering, his rifle held rather close to his chest. At that instant, Kaito could see the bravado was merely a façade the fair-headed adolescent was putting on. He was scared.

_Much like I am_, the young noble thought ruefully.

'No,' Kaito replied evenly with forced calmness.

His instinct was shrieking at him to gut the youth in front of him to reach Kudo and give him aid. Rationality was beckoning him to do otherwise. He made his resolve. He wasn't allowing himself to become a slave to violence.

'Come on! You know as much as I do that I'm responsible for your senior officer's wounds,' the boy retorted.

'I don't want to kill _anyone_, soldier.'

The prince saw the other youth throwing away his rifle and suddenly lunging at him with bare fists. Kaito reflexively placed his hands in a defensive position, reducing the strength of the incoming blow. His world was a blur of red as he and the other youth rolled along the blood-saturated soil. Coming to an abrupt halt, Kaito found himself pinned down, a pair of hands grabbing him by the collar of his coat. In spite of his situation, the prince didn't retaliate. He merely looked at his opponent directly in the eye.

_He's hurting_.

'Liar! You wouldn't be here if you didn't want to!'

'I was forced into this war…just like you ha—' Kaito began to say before he felt the solid impact of flesh and bone against his jaw.

His head was pounding in pain; his vision momentarily blurred.

'Shut up! You're nothing like me! You're just like all those bloody aristocrats,' the youth said. Kaito sensed the anger seething from every word the soldier uttered.

With some amount of effort, the prince managed to turn the tables. He was now on top, the enemy soldier squirming frantically to free himself.

'Don't you dare compare me to those in power! Do you really think I enjoy seeing my own people butchering each other to death? I _never wanted_ this war to happen!'

'How could I trust you!? You're the _tyrant's_ son! Your father's the bloody reason why my parents and half of my entire clan are dead!'

'Would you just listen to me for a moment!? I'm not the same person as my father! I know better than to take innocent liv—' the prince said before his instincts kicked in. Moving out of the way in the nick of time, Kaito narrowly missed the other boy's fist.

It was at that point that fatigue kicked in. The initial rush of adrenaline was losing its efficacy. The prince found himself panting for air, barely propping himself up from evading the enemy's attack. Looking up, Kaito saw the youth now looming over him, a mix of emotions crossing his face.

'We're all the same are we not? We're all human beings trying to live, love and be loved, right? Yet, look at us. For all the similarities we share, here we are fighting amongst ourselves; destroying the very ideals and beliefs that we hold onto dearly with our very lives,' Kaito said as warm tears intermingled with the vermillion mud staining his face.

'Can't you see, soldier!? This war is bloody _pointless_,' Kaito yelled, trying to make his voice heard above the cacophony of gunfire and screams.

The sound of a rifle being cocked somewhere behind him and the sudden anxiety evident on the other youth's face pushed Kaito's body into action once more. Using his remaining strength, the prince leapt towards the other youth. A stabbing pain radiated close to the right side of his chest as he and his enemy fell towards the ground. He could feel his breathing becoming shallower—each intake turning into a struggle. His already muddled vision was blurring even further.

Every second he fell seemed to stretch. In his state, Kaito wasn't even sure if his hearing had faded away or if the ghoulish sounds of battle had just truly—thankfully—ceased altogether.

'Why the hell did you _save _me, you _git_,' the voice of the adolescent rang in the prince's ears.

'Didn't I tell you already? I can't bear to see another life—ally or rebel—being taken away by this war,' Kaito replied through intermittent coughs.

_Heh. Ironic, isn't it? I couldn't even keep my own, _Kaito reflected.

His lips bore a faint, rueful smile. Before he was able to think or say anything further, his consciousness failed him completely.

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Kaito's eyes fluttered open; his breathing awfully quick and shallow. Tears stained his cheeks.

He was extremely disorientated both physically and mentally. The fact that he was sleeping in a bed wasn't even enough to reassure him he was now safe. To him the war still wasn't over. He was still entrapped within the ghastly confinements of that, accursed war-torn plateau.

_Wait, is Sir Yuusaku…is he dead?_ He wasn't sure.

It was still dark; the lack of vision only serving to exacerbate the prince's disorientation. The only source of light was a sliver of moonlight bleeding through what Kaito vaguely made out to be curtains somewhere off to his right.

_Curtains! It must've been a mere dream then, right?_

The prince's tensed body was beginning to relax when he heard the characteristic screech of Sir Yuusaku's hawk reverberating inside the room. His heart seemed to stop. Without realising it, Kaito had screamed the colonel's name at the top of his lungs.

The strip of light was fading quickly; much like his own, fragile consciousness.

Mere seconds before his body was about to collapse, a door burst open to reveal a face the prince thought he'd never see again. Sir Yuusaku rushed inside the room, setting the kerosene lamp on the adjacent bedside table.

By now, Kaito had been reduced to a sobbing heap; the rush of events being too much for him to take. That was when he felt the arms of the colonel wrap around his shoulders, rocking him gently back and forth.

'Hush now, dear boy. It's okay. Kaito, please listen. You're safe now. The war's _over_. I'm right here. I won't be going anywhere anytime soon,' the colonel said, his warm baritone soothing Kaito's scattered thoughts.

It wasn't long after that oblivion took over and he succumbed to a dreamless slumber.

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Three months had come and gone since the war had ended. Never had the prince thought his actions would somehow awaken something within the hearts of the imperial soldiers and rebels alike. At first, it seemed like nothing more than an isolated event. Even so, that tiny spark—that catalyst—had somehow caught alight and set a chain of reactions ablaze, culminating to end the war and abolish the previous monarchy. Following his father's untimely death during the war, Kaito was officially adopted by the colonel and taken into his custody.

It was about an hour before sunset and everything the light touched was tinged with a majestic golden hue. The prince was currently sitting on the rooftop of Sir Yuusaku's château, his chin resting on his knees. Every once in a while, he ended up looking into thin air and see the corpses of people he knew from the war. Sometimes, varying shades of red flashed in front of his vision before dissipating into thin air.

Nestled on his shoulder was the colonel's hawk, its talon digging somewhat into his flesh. It didn't really bother Kaito though—at least, not anymore. The pain—no matter the intensity—was Kaito's way of keeping himself grounded with reality nowadays. It was his own way of atoning for the lives he'd unwillingly taken—directly or indirectly; his penance for being one of the lucky ones to have escaped the massacre with his sanity intact.

Raising his eyes up to the meet the sky, Kaito watched clouds lazily drift past. He continued to do so until a clattering from behind him caught his attention. Turning around partially, Kaito found himself staring at the very boy he had protected during the war.

Unlike in their previous encounter, the youth's face no longer bore hatred or anger. However, Kaito could still sense the blatant wariness emanating from the other youth. He thought it was understandable; the boy was even more emotionally and psychologically scarred than he was.

Not for the first time in his life, the prince didn't really know what do or how to act. True, he may have saved the adolescent's life but he never would've thought that they will ever meet again.

After a moment of hesitation, Kaito asked, 'Care to join me? I mean, if you don't mind, that is…'

In return, the fair-headed youth nodded slowly—almost reluctantly.

Kaito observed the boy climb out of the trapdoor and sit a metre away from him before returning to his earlier position. Seconds passed and apart from their breathing, the wind's barely audible whisper was the only sound shared between both of them.

'Listen. I…er…came to say thanks,' the youth began to say; breaking the silence, 'you know, for saving my life.'

'You're…welcome—' Kaito replied with equal amounts of reluctance.

He let the sentence hang, hoping to know the name of the person he saved.

'Hakuba Saguru.'

'I know that mere words cannot repay for my father's crime against your family nor can they bring them back, but I wanted you to know, I'm truly sorry,' Kaito said, turning his head to face the fair-headed youth.

'Please, I'd rather not put salt on fresh wounds, Prince Kuro—I mean—Prince Kudo,' Hakuba replied with what Kaito could only describe as a wistful smile.

'You know, I could _still_ see the faces of dying soldiers,' Kaito said, trying to steer the conversation into another direction.

'Same,' the boy said before pausing. 'Do you…do you think…we'll _ever_ forget…of everything that happened?'

'I don't think we ever could, Hakuba-kun,' Kaito replied despondently.

The pressure from Kaito's shoulder lessened. The talons digging into his flesh were now gone. The bird of prey spread out its wings before leaping into the air—Kaito feeling the recoil. The hawk circled above the adolescents' heads, beating its majestic wings before its flight pattern broke into intricate dives and loops.

'But I _do_ hope that _someday_, the pain would numb enough so we could finally move on,' the prince said.

'By the way, there's no need for formalities. I'd rather have you treat me as an equal. Being of royal status does not place me above you or anyone else.'

'Alright, I guess I could get used to that idea…Kudo-kun.'

The ghost of a smile crossed his lips as Kaito's gaze continued to follow the hawk's flight but never did he miss the humour that was now apparent in the other's tone.


End file.
